holmboe



Patented Feb. 28, |899.

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METAL CASTING APPARATUS.

(Appliation led Feb. 7, 1898.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

y v U Ar 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

`Pax/muted Feb. 28, |899.' L. C. B. HDLMBUE.

METAL CASTING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Feb. 7, 1898.)

(No Nudel.)

1N; norms Frings no.. PHoT UNITED STAT-EslATENT OFFICE.

LEONHARD C. B. HOLMBOE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES H.FOOTE, OF SAMEPLACE.

lVI ETAL-CASTl-NG APPARATUS.

PCIFCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 620,240, dated February2S, 1899.

Application filed February 7| 1898.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, LEONHARD C. B. HOLM- BOE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Metal-CastingApparatus, of which the following is a specification. y

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for casting metal, inwhich, generally stated, an endless series of molds are mounted inpivotal relation to each other in an endless carrier formed ofpivotally-con-` nected links on wheels or rollers and travel ing anextended straight-sided and preferably inclined course along upper andlower tracks or supports and over vertical sprocket-wheels or the likeat opposite ends of the tracks. The metal to be cast is poured into themolds as they pass from the lower or receiving end of the apparatusalong the upper track, the length of the course and the speed of travelbeing such as to cause the metal poured into the molds to solidify,either with or without artificial cooling means, before it reachesthedischarge end of the apparatus. The molds move along the upper trackwith their open sides upward, and as theydescend over the discharge endvof the apparatus they upset to discharge the casting, returning inupset condition along the lower track to the receiving end of theapparatus, where in their movement to the upper track they are rightedagain before reaching the point where the metal is poured. i

While the apparatus may be employed in casting various kinds of metal,its more general use hitherto has been in connection with blast-furnacesfor casting the iron into pigs. The molds employed for casting pig-ironat blast-furnaces are subject to more or less frequent fracture in use,which makes their removal and replacement with new molds necessary, andas they are necessarily heavy, weighingy upward of two hundred poundseach, they are difficult to handle by manual labor alone.

My object is to provide improved means for fastening the molds in thecarrier, Whereby while held securely against accidental displacementthey may be readily removed and Serial No. 669,418. (No model.)

replaced, and whereby when upset in their movement over the dischargeend of the carrier they drop in their fastenings a limited distance tojar the contained castings and insure the loosening and discharge of thelat-- ter from the molds.

My object is further to provide improved means for lifting thereplacing-molds quickly and easilyinto their fastenings on the carrier.

My improvements are especially applicable to blast-furnacecasting-machines of the general construction shown and described inLetters Patent No. 548,146, granted to Edward A. Uehling October l5,1895 to which patent reference may be had for a more detaileddescription of the apparatus as a whole than is thought necessary in thepresent application.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a broken side elevation of thedischargeend portion of a metal-casting apparatus provided with myimprovements and with part of the supports and the track on the nearside left out Fig. 2, an enlarged section, taken on line 2 of Fig. l,showing a mold in upright position, partly in elevation and partly insection; Fig. 3, a broken and enlarged section taken on line 3 of Fig. 1and illustrating the operation ofplacing a mold in the carrier; Fig. 4,a broken vplan view of the carrier, showing one mold in position; andFig. 5, a broken view' on an irregular line, showing one mold inelevation, anotherin section, and the fastening means at one side foranother mold.

A is the carrier; B, one of a pair of sprocketwheels at the dischargeend, around which the carrier moves; B', one of the brackets on whichthe shaft of the sprocket-wheel is journaled, and C the foundation uponwhich the brackets B' rest.

D is the lower track, and D the upper track, the said tracks beingsuitably supported in the frame structure of the apparatus.

The carrier A is formed with parallel endless chains, each comprising aseries of inner mold-supporting links t and outer links s, the

IOO

t, provided in their ends with sockets t2. Fastened against the outersides of thelinkst and extending along and beyond the plate portions tare mold-engaging latches, comprising arms or plates t3, provided withopenings t4 through them. The arms t3 are preferably of springy metaland curved outward at their free ends, as shown.

E E are the molds, provided at opposite ends with comparatively narrowprojecting lugs or ear portions p, forming shoulders and of a shape toit the sockets t2 in the links t. The body portion of each mold is of alength approximating the distance between a pair ofl links t at oppositesides, and the ears p eX- tend past the sockets in the links. The endsof the ears or lugs p are preferably inclined to form cams whereby inthe operation of placing a mold inposition to extend at its ears or lugsp in the sockets t2 the cam ends of the ears will bear against thesurfaces of the spring-arms t3 and press them apart until the ears passto the openings t4 in thespringarms, when the latter will recoil overthe ears, and thus hold the molds in place. The openings t4 in thespring-arms are somewhat longer than the ears p. Th us when the moldstravel in upright positionthey rest at their ears p in the sockets t2 ofthe links, as shown in Fig. 2, and when reversed they drop.. to the endsof the openings in the spring-arms, as illustrated most plainly in Fig.l.

In practice the molds in passing over the discharge end of the apparatusmay drop an inch, more or less, in order to loosen the contained pig inthe event that it should stick in the mold and insure its discharge whenthe mold has upset. When it is desired to remove a mold from thecarrier, one of the spring-arms may be forced outward with a crowbar orother tool to release the ears. The

ears p and sockets t2 are of tapering form and it each other closely tohold the molds against independent oscillation while traveling along theupper track.

To facilitate the placing of molds in the carrier, I provide a frame orplatform F beneath the lower track, preferably near the discharge end ofthe machine, whichframe or platform may be capable of holding severalmolds. At the end of the frame or platform is alifting device Gr, whichmaybe of any desired construction. In Fig. 1 I illustrate a hydrauliclifting device having a pistoncylinder fa and a piston-stem n', carryinga head '112, which conforms in size and outline to the inner face of themold to hold the same in one position in the lifting operation. Thelifting device is located vcentrally below the carrier and in suchAposition with relationto the platform that when it is down a mold may beslid onto the head with little trouble. When it hasbeen necessary toremove a mold from the carrier, the carrier is moved until the emptylinks are directly over the lifting device G. A new mold is placed uponthe head n2, and the lifting device is then operated to raise the moldbetween the links and spread the spring-arms t3, which when the ears pregister with the openings recoil under the ears. and sustain the molds,as described. The lifting-head is then caused to descend out of the Way.To prevent yielding of the carrier under the pressureof the liftingdevice when a mold is raised into position, I provide guards or keepersm over the lower track at that point, which hold the rollers r to thetrack-rails.

While I prefer to construct my improvements throughout as shown anddescribed, they may be variously modified without departing from thespirit of my invention as defined by the claims.

IwIitherto it has been usual to secure the moldsto the links with boltswhich have to be removed and replaced whenever molds are changed.Whenever it happens that a mold has to be removed and replaced during arun of the machine the saving of time which my improvement effects overthe old method in making the change is of great importance, and while Iprefer to employ spring-latches, as shown, I do not limit my inventionthereto. In fact, any suitable form of latch which may be sprung,turned, or shot into mold-retain ing position may be employed. g

The dropping of the` molds in their fasteni ings as they turn over thedischarge end of the apparatus is a valuable improvement, as it not onlymakes tapping, which tends to injure the molds, unnecessary, butdispenses with the services of a man hitherto required to do the tappingand is more certain in its operation.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ism

l. In a metal-casting machine,` the combination of parallelcarrier-chains formedwith mold-supporting links provided with, latchesarranged to move into and out of engagement with the molds, and moldsremovably supported on said links and engaged by said latches,substantially as described.

2. In a metal-casting machine, the combination of parallelcarrier-chains formed with mold-supporting links provided withspringlatches, and molds removably supported on said links and engagedby said latches, substantially as described.

3. In a metal-casting machine,molds formed with end projections,parallel carrier-chains formed with links having sockets to receive thesaid end projections, and latches on the links engaging the saidprojections, substan tially as described.

4. I n a metal-castin g machine,molds formed with end projections,parallel carrier-chains formed with links having sockets to receive thesaid end projections, and spring-latches on the links engaging the saidprojections, substantially as described.

5. In a metal-casting machine, the combination of parallelcarrier-chains formed with mold-supporting links, and molds supportedIOO IIO

on said links the connection between the molds and links being formed byprojections upon the one, and elongated lug-engaging sockets in theother in which the lugs have play to cause the molds to have limitedmovement on their supports, whereby as the molds are upset in theircourse, a jarring, casting discharging-drop is imparted to them,substantially as described.

6. In a metal-casting machine, the combination of molds formed with endprojections, parallel carrier-chains formed with links having sockets toreceive the said end projections, and projecting spring-latches on thesides of the links having openings to receive the said projections,substantially as described.

7. In a metal-casting machine, the combination of molds formed withtapering end projections, parallel carrier-chains formed with linkshaving tapering sockets into which the said end projections fit, andlatches on the links engaging the said projections, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a metal-casting machine, the combination of molds E formed withend projections p, parallel carrier-chains formed with links t providedwith sockets t2, and springlatches t3 on the linkshaving elongatedopenings 154, all constructed and arranged to operate substantially asdescribed.

9. In a metal-casting machine, the combination with the parallelcarrier-chains formed with mold-supporting links, of a mold supportingand lifting device beneath the carrierchains, means for raising saiddevice to lift the molds to the links, and mold-engaging means on thelinks,substantially as described.

10. In a metal-casting machine, the combination with the parallelcarrier-chains formed with mold-supporting links, of a mold supportingand positioning lifting head beneath the carrier chains, means forraising said head to lift the molds to the links, and moldengaging meanson the links, substantially as described.

l1. In a metal-casting machine, the combination with the parallelcarrier-chains formed with mold-supporting links, of a mold supportingand lifting device beneath the carrierchains,means for raising saiddevice to lift the molds to the links, mold-engaging means on the links,and a mold-supporting frame conveniently adjacent to said liftingdevice, all arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

12. In a metal-casting machine, the combination of the lower track andparallel carrierchains formed with mold-supporting links provided withmold-engaging latches, of a mold positioning and lifting device beneaththe lower track, means for raising said device with a mold to place themold in the links, and keepers above the lower tracks preventing rise ofthe links under pressure of the lifting device, substantially asdescribed.

LEONHARD C. B. HOLlllBOE.

In presence of- M. J. FROST, J. W. DYRENFORTH.

